Over the last 10 days we have become acquainted with Juan, part of the 3-man crew of a large commercial catamaran that they brought over from Los Cabos for repairs. The company has put them up at this hotel but Juan hit the streets last week to find something cheaper for a 4-day visit from his wife and son. He found a set of apartments that proved so good for him and his family and were so much cheaper than this hotel that he obviously felt compelled to enlighten us and help us to save mucho dinero.
The numbers were compelling. At this hotel we are paying $330 USD or about 4125 pesos per week. An apartment was available at 3500 pesos per calendar month. That's less than $9.50 USD per day. The pricing structure was strange: 2 weeks for 3750 pesos or one month for 3500 pesos. (Duh, let me think about that one for a while.)
This morning Juan took Brenda and myself to the apartment building and it was as he had said. The apartments are fully furnished, with air conditioning and TV (no Internet but we have our Telcel dongle). Our apartment is on the third (top) floor at the end of the wing with pleasant views among some trees. On the other side of the apartment we have a street view. Theresa the manager then took us down to the court yard where she showed us where to put the trash and the laundry, which has a pay washer and dryer. The apartment still shows vestiges of the hotel that it used to be because Theresa will clean the apartment and change the sheets and towels at varying times during the week.
At the office I put down 3500 pesos in cash but won't get a receipt until later today when the owner comes around. But to complete the trust thing Theresa didn't count the money until I asked her to.
Brenda and I are looking forward to the change. The apartment is on the other side of the marina closer to the town center. We will be much closer to the Bravo market for fish, fruit and vegetables, as well as the ATMs and other services that the city has to offer.
The one month tenure will mean that we can take our time about moving back into Pachuca and will possibly do our sea trials and still have the apartment to come back to.
On the way back I gave Juan a tour of Pachuca while Brenda went on to see Ib and Yadranka before they left for Mazatlan. The inside of Pachuca looks like a train crash but Juan said that he liked what he saw. We then went into the workshop where I introduced him to Mercedes and then showed him the new Volvo engine as well as the old Sabb engine next to it.
In the meantime Brenda did spend some time with Ib and Yadranka who were indeed leaving for Mazatlan today On their Hans Christian 38 Aeolus to have the first service done on their new engine. The good news is that they expect to return to La Paz in two weeks, which appears to be a change of plans. I suspect that the attractiveness of the La Paz climate more than made up for the higher marina prices, although I did make a strong case to Ib for living at anchor near the marina. Brenda told me that they expect to do some exploring of the Sea of Cortez and will eventually return to Australia across the Pacific Ocean via the Galapagos. It is possible that we will meet at some anchorage during our sea trial.
The accompanying photo is of Capitan Juan Liquidano at the helm of his ship.
Yesterday Juan had asked me if I liked Mexican food. When I replied that I love it he invited Brenda and myself to his home for dinner if we made it back to Cabo. I later told Brenda what an honor it is to be invited to any Spaniard's home. This morning he told me that he hoped that we would make it to Cabo and I told him how honored we felt and that we would try.
On the work front Mercedes and Joel were at it again with the engine mounts. I offered to paint the engine beds this weekend but Joel indicated that Salome the fiberglass man was expected to do it. I didn't argue. Why should I, when it gives me two free days for touring?
1 comment:
Interesting things keep popping up! Gila Woodpecker has a long sharp beak...lovely close up photo.
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